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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208

7th World Conference on Educational Sciences, (WCES-2015), 05-07 February 2015, Novotel
Athens Convention Center, Athens, Greece

A Study of Electrical Energy Saving in Office

Narun Luewarasirikula*
a
Applied Physics Program, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University,
1 U-Thong nok Road, Dusit District, Bangkok, 10300, Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the ways of electrical energy saving in office by 1) studying the payback period of replacing
certain electric lamp with the new ones with higher technology (e.g. LED lamp) and also comparing their effects, 2) studying the
benefit of using individual manual lighting controls, the individual manual switch for controls individual lights, 3) collecting the
data of how much electrical energy using for any electrical appliances (e.g. lamp, air condition, computer, printer, television,
refrigerator, etc.), then calculating approximate electricity costs from electrical energy using for any electrical appliances, the
data provided for awareness of the people who use electrical appliances in office for reducing their electrical energy using.
© 2015The
© 2015 TheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Publishedby by Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.
Keywords: electricity saving, office, lighting

1. Introduction

Office Buildings are one of the highest levels of energy consumption buildings compared with energy
consumption in other building sectors. The total annual energy consumption in office buildings varies in the range
100 - 1,000 kWh per square metre per year, depending on the geographic location, operational schedules, use of
HVAC systems, use and type of office equipment, type of lighting equipment, energy policy in each office, etc.
Most energy consumption in office buildings is for heating and cooling system, lighting system, ventilation system
and office equipment.

* Narun Luewarasirikul. Tel.:+4-34-554-345.

E-mail address: naruno@gmail.com

1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.379
1204 Narun Luewarasirikul / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208

Nomenclature

HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

LED Light-Emitting Diode
CFL Compact Fluorescent Lights
kWh Kilowatt Hour (commonly used as a billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities)
BTU British Thermal Unit

The database of electricity consumption in Thailand provided by Department of Alternative Energy Development
and Efficiency (DEDE), Ministry of Energy, Thailand, shown in Table 1. Over 30% of total energy consumption is
used in Bangkok, the capital and the most populous city of Thailand.

Table 1. Electricity consumption in Thailand

Electricity Consumption
Year
(GWh)
2005 121,229
2006 127,811
2007 133,178
2008 135,449
2009 135,209
2010 149,320
2011 148,700
2012 162,343
2013 176,973

The portions of electricity consumption in the major energy consuming sectors are shown in Fig. 1. and
electricity consumption in office buildings is classified in business sector.

Fig. 1. Electricity consumption by sector

 Narun Luewarasirikul / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208 1205

Bangkok has a “tropical savanna climate” (tropical wet and dry climate) under the Koppen climate classification
with hot, rainy and cool seasons. Temperatures are fairly hot year-round, varies from an average low of 22.0 °C
(71.6 °F) in December to an average high of 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) in April with a daily mean temperature of 29.13 °C
(84.43 °F). From the high temperatures of Bangkok, the most energy consumption in office buildings in Thailand,
especially Bangkok, is for cooling system (air conditioner) and the second is for lighting system. There are many
ways to saving energy consumption from cooling system, such as choose the ENERGY STAR (TM) air conditioner,
often clean the air filter, set the temperature at 25 °C (78 °F) to balance comfort with energy and cost savings, etc.
And this research will focus on the electricity consumption saving in lighting system.

2. Research Methodology

This research is focus on the electricity consumption saving in lighting system in office by 1) studying the
payback period of replacing certain electric lamp with the new ones with higher technology (e.g. LED lamp) and
also comparing their effects, 2) studying the benefit of using individual manual lighting controls, the individual
manual switch for controls individual lights. Furthermore, the data of how much electricity consumption for any
office appliances is collected, then calculating approximate electricity costs, the data provided for awareness of the
people in office who use office appliances for reducing their electricity using.

3. LED Lamp

Nowadays, the most electricity-saving and energy efficient lighting products is LED lamp. LED lamp is a light-
emitting diode product that is assembled into a lamp for use in lighting system. LED lamps have electrical efficiency
and life span several times better than incandescent lamps, and significantly better than most fluorescent lamps. But
the prices of LED lamps are relatively high compared with CFL lamps and incandescent lamps. Then, cost
comparisons of each type of lamps (for 50,000 hours of use) are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Cost comparison between LED, CFL and incandescent lamps

LED CFL Incandescent

Life span (average) 50,000 hours 10,000 hours 1,000 hours

Watts of electricity used

(equivalent to 60 W 7W 14 W 60 W
incandescent bulb)
Cost per bulb (price in $12.50 $3.75 $0.56
Thailand) (400 THB) (120 THB) (18 THB)
* exchange rate / 32 THB : 1 USD

kWh of electricity used over

350 kWh 700 kWh 3,000 kWh
50,000 hours
Cost of electricity
$35 $70 $300
($0.10 per kWh)
Bulbs needed for 50,000 hours
1 5 50
of use
Equivalent 50,000 hours bulb
$12.50 $18.75 $28.00
expense
Total cost for 50,000 hours
$47.50 $88.75 $328.00
(cost of electricity + bulbs)
Cost savings by switching
$280.50 $239.25 -
from incandescent
Cost savings by switching
$41.25 - -
from CFL
1206 Narun Luewarasirikul / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208

Remarked that cost of electricity, bulb price and bulb life span in Table 2. will vary. The figures used in Table 2.
are for comparison only, and are not exact.
From the data in Table 2. show that, at 10,000 hours of use, total cost of LED and CFL lamp using are $19.50
and $17.75 respectively. But 10,000 hours are the average life span of CFL lamp then, cost of a new CFL lamp will
be accounted to the total cost of CFL lamp using, that made it cost $17.75 + $3.75 = $21.50 at 10,000 hours of use.
The payback period of replacing old CFL lamp with LED lamp is around 10,000 hours of use.
Furthermore, there are many advantages of LED lamp over CFL and incandescent lamp as shown in the
comparison table of the features of LED, CFL and incandescent lamps (Fig. 2.)

Fig. 2. Comparison table of the features of LED, CFL and incandescent lamps

4. Individual Manual Lighting Controls Lamp

The research site of this part is at Dean's office of Faculty of Science and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat
University, Bangkok, Thailand. An office hour is 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, but office opens in early morning
(5am to 8am), and in evening (5pm to 8pm) with lower electricity using. And office also opens in Saturday and
Sunday (office hour 7am to 5pm) with lower electricity using too. The study of this part is to study how electricity
saving, when using individual manual lighting controls, the individual manual switch for controls individual lights.
Assume that electricity consumed by lighting system in this office in ordinary office hour (8am to 5pm, Monday
to Friday) is 1 arbitrary energy unit per hour (in short, 1 U). Electricity using is lower than 1 U in Saturday, Sunday
and also in early morning and evening in Monday to Friday. Then, after using individual manual lighting controls,
electricity consumed by lighting system in office is reduced as shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Electricity consumption in office before and after using individual manual lighting controls

Electricity consumption
in arbitrary energy unit per hour, U
Day Time Before using individual manual After using individual manual
lighting controls lighting controls
(Total electricity consumed) (Total electricity consumed)

5am - 8am 0.2 U (3 hours = 0.6 U) 0.2 U (3 hours = 0.6 U)

Mon - Fri 8am - 5pm 1.0 U (9 hours = 9.0 U) 0.5 U (9 hours = 4.5 U)

5pm - 8pm 0.5 U (3 hours = 1.5 U) 0.3 U (3 hours = 0.9 U)

Sat - Sun 7am - 5pm 0.5 U (10 hours = 5.0 U) 0.3 U (10 hours = 3.0 U)

Total electricity consumption 16.1 U 9.0 U

 Narun Luewarasirikul / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208 1207

per week

Data from Table 3. show that, when using individual manual lighting controls, total electricity consumption per
week reduced from 16.1 U to 9.0 U (44.1% reduced).

5. Power Meter

The last part of this research is to use power meter for collecting the data of electricity consumption of any office
appliances, computing the average value, and then, calculating electricity costs with rate $0.10 per kWh (or 10c per
kWh), as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Electrical energy and electricity costs of office appliances

Electrical energy Electricity costs

Office appliances (kWh) per hour

LCD Monitor 0.022 0.22c

CRT Monitor 0.085 0.85c

Desktop Computer 0.097 0.97c

Notebook 0.056 0.56c

Laser Printer (Working) 0.340 3.40c

Laser Printer (Standby) 0.045 0.45c

Ink Jet Printer (Working) 0.040 0.40c

Ink Jet Printer (Standby) 0.011 0.11c

Fax Machine (Standby) 0.012 0.12c

Copier (Working) 0.544 5.44c

Copier (Standby) 0.087 0.87c

Wi-Fi Router 0.009 0.09c

Cell Phone Charger 0.004 0.04c

LCD Television 0.112 1.12c

6. Result and Conclusion

The payback period of replacing CFL lamp with LED lamp is around 10,000 hours of use. When using electric
lamp for 50,000 hours (average life span of LED lamp), total cost (cost of lamps and electricity) savings by
switching from incandescent and CFL lamp to LED lamp is $280.50 and $41.25 respectively. And there are other
advantages of LED lamp over CFL and incandescent lamp as shown Fig. 2.
Using individual manual lighting controls, the individual manual switch for controls individual lights, made
weekly electricity consumption for lighting system in Dean’s office of Faculty of Science and Technology, Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand, reduced from 16.1 U to 9.0 U (44.1% reduced).
The data of electricity consumption and electricity costs for any office appliances is collected by Power Meter,
and then, this data will be provided for awareness of the people in office who use office appliances for reducing
their electricity using.
1208 Narun Luewarasirikul / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 197 (2015) 1203 – 1208

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Institute for Research and Development, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University.
Special thanks also extended to staff of Dean's office of Faculty of Science and Technology who helped and
supported this research.

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